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Let Them Wear Heels, Says AWM President

Ruth Charney, elected president of the Association for Women in Mathematics earlier this year, stresses the importance of mentorship and networking in making women feel comfortable pursuing graduate study and careers in mathematics.

While Charney did not herself feel alienated as she studied math at Brandeis and then Princeton, she saw as a young professor at Ohio State University that many women dropped out of mathematics grad school even though they were doing well.

Says Charney:

I fit in as a doctoral candidate because I owned only jeans and T-shirts. But if someone wants to wear a dress or heels, she should be able to without feeling judged or inappropriate.